Archive for the 'Polaris At Noon' Tag Under 'Soundcheck' Category

April 19th, 2011, 9:20 pm by KELLI SKYE FADROSKI, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

When Jason Suwito was 6 years old he dreaded going to piano lessons. Nowadays, the local musician says he's thankful his parents pushed him to learn the keys at an early age -- he considers it a blessing. Suwito, now 25, has been performing under the moniker Polaris at Noon and just last week released his new EP, En Pointe.

To help celebrate and promote the release, Polaris at Noon is appearing with the Boxer Rebellion on May 1 at Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa, as well as a few dates with British electro trio Dirty Vegas, including a May 6 stop at the Echoplex in Los Angeles.

Suwito wrote, performed, mixed and recorded all of the music on the EP in his home studio in Costa Mesa. En Pointe is a departure, he says, from his previous full-length release from 2008, Season One; that album had a more traditional pop/rock sound.

“Before I was writing in a more rock style with piano, and I wrote some ballads and what-not, but then I started messing with electronic music,” he explains. “It was all new to me and I wanted to challenge myself. I was so familiar with the typical guitar/bass/keyboard setup, and I was looking to grow as a producer, so I started getting into learning new techniques, which is really apparent in the new stuff. It's just a lot more fun.”

His biggest influences are Swedish indie-pop act Miike Snow, L.A. darlings Foster the People, Sam's Town by the Killers (one of his all-time favorite albums) and, since he grew up in Irvine, local rock success story Thrice. “They've always been a huge inspiration. They're what probably got me into music in the first place and the reason why I picked up guitar.”